What is an ecosystem regime shift?
Ecological regime shifts are large, sudden changes in ecosystems that entail changes in the internal dynamics and feedbacks of an ecosystem and last of substantial periods of time.
What are the changes in the marine ecosystems?
They include air and water temperature warming, seasonal shifts in species, coral bleaching, sea level rise, coastal inundation, coastal erosion, harmful algal blooms, hypoxic (or dead) zones, new marine diseases, loss of marine mammals, changes in levels of precipitation, and fishery declines.
What are some examples of disturbances that occur in marine ecosystems?
Ask students to provide examples of disturbances that occur in marine ecosystems. Add their ideas on the table from Step 2. Elicit examples such as hurricanes, ocean warming, dead zones (anoxia), overfishing, habitat destruction (trawling, coastal development), and pollution (toxic waste, oil spill).
What are the 3 types of marine ecosystems?
These include the open ocean, the deep-sea ocean, and coastal marine ecosystems, each of which have different physical and biological characteristics.
How does climate change affect ocean ecosystems?
As greenhouse gases trap more energy from the sun, the oceans are absorbing more heat, resulting in an increase in sea surface temperatures and rising sea level. Changes in ocean temperatures and currents brought about by climate change will lead to alterations in climate patterns around the world.
What is a biogenic habitat?
Biogenic habitats are habitats created by plants and animals. This may be the organism itself, such as a seagrass meadow or a bed of horse mussels, or arise from an organism’s activities, such as the burrows created by crabs.
What is the biggest problem facing our oceans today?
Global warming is causing sea levels to rise, threatening coastal population centers. Many pesticides and nutrients used in agriculture end up in the coastal waters, resulting in oxygen depletion that kills marine plants and shellfish. Factories and industrial plants discharge sewage and other runoff into the oceans.
How many types of marine ecosystems are there?
Two-thirds of the total surface area of the planet is covered by marine water. The marine ecosystems can broadly be classified into two main categories constituting 5 major marine ecosystems. Water/Pelagic environment consists of two major marine ecosystems, Neritic and Oceanic zones.